Down the LED Mask Rabbit Hole? Here’s What I Finally Chose
If you’ve been on TikTok, Reels or even just scrolled through Instagram stories lately, you’ve probably seen that LED masks are EVERYWHERE.
And each creator seems to swear by a different brand of mask. CurrentBody! Dr. Dennis Gross! Shark CryoGlow!
I’ve been in scroll -and- research mode for what feels like weeks. Bookmarking posts, saving videos to remember points, getting deinfluenced by someone on Threads who asked to be deinfluenced by other users. Back to square one. Repeat.
BUT, I finally made a decision that I feel really good about, and not just because of the name or how often it has come up; the Shark CryoGlow LED Face Mask.
Why LED Masks Had My Scrolls in a Chokehold To Begin With
Let me back up. I’m a Canadian girly in her thirties and my skin has had quite the history.
I lived off Proactiv in my teenage years, which left me with some acne scarring I’m still dealing with. Then there’s the sun damage from my more recent working-in-sports days. I’d been terrible about remembering sunscreen (or reapplying it) and got one too many sunburns. Add in years of sitting by my home office window without SPF (learning that lesson the hard way), and my cheeks have this persistent redness that never quite goes away.
Oh, and I’m a squinter. The fine lines around my eyes aren’t just from smiling a lot, they’re from squinting at screens or books as I deny, or don’t realize, I’m squinting.
I’ve got my product-based skincare routine down near-pat. while still playing with new additions once in a while. But, I kept seeing posts about LED masks and how they actually stimulate collagen production, reduce inflammation, and help with everything from acne to anti-aging.
As always, choosing one was the hard part, especially at all different price tags.
A Deciding Factor with LED Masks: Wavelength
Not all LED masks are created equal, but many of them are made to look exactly the same. So it seems like any one you spot in a shop should work just as well as the higher priced ones you’ve likely seen posted online – until you see their integrated wavelengths.
The nanometers (nm) of each light therapy mask determine how deeply the light will penetrate your skin and what it actually does once it gets in there.
Why I Chose the Shark CryoGlow
The Shark CryoGlow checked every box I had, and a few I didn’t even know I needed at the start of my search.
The Wavelengths Are As Needed
With all the right numbers, and not just slapping “red light therapy” in vague marketing speak on their product, Shark’s CryoGlow has:
- 630nm red light (anti-aging, collagen boost)
- 830nm deep infrared (inflammation, deeper skin layers)
- 415nm blue light (acne and blemishes)
For my personal skin scenarios (acne scars, sun damage & redness), some or all of which you may share, having all three wavelengths in one device is a big plus.
The blue light can help prevent new blemishes, the red light can target scarring and collagen production, and the infrared will go deeper to address that stubborn cheek redness and sun damage.
Cooling Pads Are A Wonderful Bonus
The Shark has these cooling under-eye pads with what they call InstaChill technology. You can adjust the temperature across three levels, and it’s designed to help with puffiness and visibly tighten the under-eye area.
As someone who occasionally doom-scrolls past midnight, or loses track of time staring into my Kobo, and wakes up looking like it, this sounds like a real win to me.
Shark CryoGlow’s Treatment Times Are Convenient
The Shark has four main modes:
- Better Aging Treatment: 6 minutes of red and infrared LEDs
- Skin Clearing Treatment: 8 minutes of blue, infrared, and red for acne
- Skin Sustain Treatment: 4 minutes to enhance and maintain your glow
- Under-Eye Revive Treatment: 5-15 minutes of InstaChill time
I could have completed all of the above in the times I spent mask scrolling.
The Shark CryoGlow is Space-Friendly & Travel-Friendly
I live in a condo, and space is at a premium. Some of these masks come with charging stations, stands, and take up half your bathroom counter. The Shark comes with a storage bag, charges via USB-C, and has a remote control so you’re not fumbling with buttons while wearing it.
Plus, if I’m traveling to visit my partner or taking a weekend trip to a stadium or shopping experience, I could bring this without needing to make significant room.
The Price Point Makes Sense
When shopping for LED masks, you’re going to see prices of all sizes.
If it looks too “cheap,” it’s easy to question the wavelength or build quality. If it’s too expensive, you’re either not buying it period or buying it but then using it because you feel the need to justify the purchase by making it an absolute task.
The Shark CryoGlow sits in the mid-range, which felt right to me. It’s an investment, but one where I can commit to using it without stressing or guilting myself into use, but use it because I want to, enjoy doing so, and see the benefits more than the receipt total.
The Importance of Realistic Expectations
When trying any skincare product, it’s important to go in with realistic expectations and to give it a -chance- to work, ie. using it often enough and over enough of a period of time to actually find out how well it’s working. Some people buy a product, whether technological or liquid, try it for a week and go “nothing happened.” But, our skin and its cycles need time.
Light therapy isn’t going to erase decades of sun damage overnight or make my acne scars magically disappear. But based on the clinical studies and online reviews, I’m optimistic about what I will see; improved skin texture, faded hyperpigmentation, reduced redness, improved damage repair, smoothed texture and firmer healthier skin overall.
Want to try the Shark CryoGlow too? Find it on Amazon here. If you get one, let me know what you think.
